The twenty-second lead over Max Verstappen at the checkered flag tells only part of McLaren’s superiority in Singapore; before encountering lapped cars, that margin was nearly half a minute, and also because the Dutch driver was not the most formidable rival on track. With Charles Leclerc starting from the front rows, the race could have had a different narrative, but overall, Norris was still the clear winner.
Looking back over the season, it’s evident that McLaren’s larger victory margins have come mainly on high-downforce tracks, such as Hungary and the Netherlands, with Ferrari closely contesting on street circuits and low-downforce tracks, like Azerbaijan and Monza, where they achieved a stunning victory thanks to a perfect strategy.
Since embarking on this development path last season, McLaren has undoubtedly made significant investments in their high-downforce package, addressing the key shortcomings not only in pure downforce but also in straight-line stability. The hard work has paid off, as the MCL38 has become the benchmark car in this respect and in terms of versatility; the 2023 MCL60 had indeed shown its limitations on low-downforce tracks, revealing graining issues.
This versatility has made McLaren such an effective car across a wide range of circuits. They have found a good balance between stiffness and softness in the suspension, providing a stable setup in high-speed sections while maintaining good handling and traction in slow corners, and there has also been substantial aerodynamic development. Significant improvements have been made in front-end performance, which struggled last year in very slow or medium-low-speed corners where reliance on the front end was critical. Additionally, advancements have been made in curb riding, a crucial factor in Singapore, demonstrating a solid mechanical compromise, while Verstappen often had to maneuver around them.
“With this high level of downforce, we seem very competitive. I often refer to Hungary and Zandvoort: Hungary was a relatively dominant win, just like Zandvoort and Singapore,” said Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal.
“I think at this moment, more than the car in this configuration, we have the best aerodynamic efficiency on the grid. While at low downforce, I believe Ferrari and Red Bull’s efficiency is much more comparable to ours. We know for sure that we have invested much more in high downforce than we have at low downforce, although, as seen at Spa and Monza, we have made progress on that front as well,” the Italian added.
All these aspects became clear during the Singapore weekend where, despite a very fast Ferrari on Friday and Sunday, McLaren showcased its superiority not only in pure pace but also in adaptability to varying track conditions, demonstrating more consistent performance throughout the weekend. This was particularly evident with Norris, who perfectly interpreted the capabilities of his MCL38, while Oscar Piastri faced more difficulties in tapping into the car’s potential.
The most interesting aspect is that this superiority displayed by the Norris-McLaren duo, aside from the distraction errors during the race, actually allowed them to manage the situation calmly, without having to push too hard. The moment when the MCL38 showed its full potential was between the tenth and twentieth laps when McLaren instructed Norris to push the accelerator to create a safety gap over Max Verstappen, shielding him from any possible issues. In the following laps, the advantage continued to grow, also linked to Verstappen’s tire struggles.
In the second half of the race, it was clear that Norris opted to manage his pace more conservatively, consistently employing a “lift and coast” technique at the end of the straights, which involves easing off the throttle in the latter part of the straight sections. This behavior was observed for much of the second stint, clearly affecting the pace, but it’s interesting to note that the gap to Verstappen didn’t originate from a specific section of the track but instead steadily increased throughout the lap, indicating how well the MCL38 could handle the various challenges of the circuit.
Certainly, with Charles Leclerc behind him, who was extremely fast on both Friday and Sunday, Lando Norris would have faced more pressure and might not have been able to manage the race with such ease, but the track scenario allowed the Brit to maintain a degree of calm. As explained by Andrea Stella, in the second half of the race, the objective was more about avoiding mistakes and managing the lapped traffic, where Norris indeed lost a considerable amount of time.
“To be honest, in the second part of the second stint, our attention was drawn to the fact that as soon as we got behind the lapped cars, the car started to become difficult to handle,” explained Andrea Stella – “So, it was necessary to avoid problems, not make mistakes, and prevent locking up. We had already seen in free practice that as soon as you find yourself behind a slow car, it feels like there’s something wrong with the car: it’s just the effect of dirty air. The goal was to bring the car home.” – the McLaren team boss concluded.
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